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Which shoe?

ManidipaM

Veteran

I can order ONE pair of shoes, and then won't be able to get any more for a few months (other holes to fill)! I need shoes to walk all day in. The choice is between...
This Bandolino red loafer: http://www.jabong.com/Bandolin.....11890.html
These black Naturalizer sandals: http://www.bata.in/webbata/fac.....goryID=264

After my recent purge, I have the following:
- Black wedge sandals (#1)
- Brown mary janes (#2)
- Coloured sandals, on their last legs (#5)
- Animal-print ballet flats (#4, too snug and thin-soled for long walks)
- Red crochet ballet flats, also dying fast (#3)
- Plum court shoes, kitten-heeled (no photo, sorry; no good for walking anyway)
- Black & neon-green strappy sandals (no photo; but definitely sitting shoes! excruciating even to stand in for long)
- Dark brown & teal thong sandals (no photo again; NOT nude on me)

Since I can't overhaul very fast, I thought hard about what holes I could see and the ones all of you helped me identify. In terms of colour, black (to bookend my hair) and nude (to lengthen the leg line) are top priority and safe choices. But I'd like some fun shoes too, to prevent boredom and to overcome 'colour phobia'.

I also recently got a pair of metallic sandals (#6), which was something suggested by many of you (including Angie) at different points. Not nude, but low-contrast for my skin.

What I think I still need, ideally:
- Nude sandals
- Black sandals
- Nude closed shoes
- Black closed shoes
- Coloured closed shoes (to replace dying red ballet flats)
- Coloured sandals (to replace colourful patterned sandals)
But right now, I can only get ONE.

A few other factors that are confusing me:
- I prefer a low heel but most of my jeans are hemmed for flats, only one for a 2-inch heel
- I have just one pair of decent non-denim pants, hemmed for low heels
- Most problematic bottoms to partner right now: my tweed skirt (#7), which I hope will go with either of these shoes --- but are both choices equally formal/casual; if not, which is better?
- I prefer closed shoes for work and travel as I hate cold toes in air-conditioning
- Open sandals better for outdoors in summer (errands etc)
- Bandolino not a brand that retails locally (too silly to bring opportunity cost into it?), so for me this is like finding Chanel on ebay!
- Naturalizers do retail locally, so *may* be found again; but this is last season's design and may not be restocked
- I know Naturalizers are comfy; not sure of Bandolino as only heard tell, never had a pair to put through the paces
- Few closed shoes in shops now, being summer

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Shopping

19 replies

Latest reply was from ManidipaM

Sarah A

Veteran

if the red ballet flats are on their last legs, i would vote for the red loafers since the black sandals in #1 look quite nice still.

ETA: the new #6 sandals look great and i find the metallic i have to go with pretty much everything!

Deborah

Veteran

I like the black sandals but given you already have those in #1 I feel you might be repeating unnecessarily. The loafers look good and might be a more practical choice.
The loafers will look good with pants, but I'm not sure about dresses and skirts as I think it would depend on length, shape etc. I am voting loafers

Jjsloane

Veteran

Just for information I find Bandolino to run narrow, but my right foot is an almost wide. I like both shoes, but for skirts and dresses the sandals would work better.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Sarah, thanks! Hoping mine prove versatile too --- I'd like to wear them with jeans as well as dresses.

JJ, thanks for that warning! I have wide feet (not sure what it implies in terms of measurements or sizes, as we don't get different widths in footwear here). Wonder if I should size up in the Bandolinos if I order those, then?

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Even though I think I like the sandals more, it sounds like the loafers would be the better immediate choice. But part of my bias is that where I live, once we get to June, I rarely wear a closed-toed shoe until October!

Meredith1953

Veteran

ManidipaM,
I like the black sandals but they do sort of duplicate the black sandals you already have. The bandolinos are cute and a great color but if your main intent is to have a shoe that will go with many different items including the tweed skirt, a loafer might not fit the bill for all those purposes. I followed your link and wondered if you had looked at these? The are a light color (close to nude) maybe too light for your blended leg-line but the idea of a small wedge that can work with pants and skirts or dresses is what I would be aiming for.

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Meghan R

I vote for the loafers, although I also really like all of Meredith's picks.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Janet, I know what you mean! It sounds extremely counter-intuitive to be seeking out closed shoes at the start of a tropical summer, doesn't it? No wonder the shops have no more than 3-4 styles each! But I do run cold and I'm beginning to feel the need to protect my toes now that I'm travelling more and going in to the office more often too.

Meredith, I like the way you think! I'd been stalking the Violettes (the white shoe you pasted) and hoping to catch them on sale for ages, but pewter and bronze ones I'd been eyeing ran out *fast* when they did go on sale. The new white and black ones are out of my budget, and won't be discounted for ages.

But I guess if the loafers are unlikely to work with dresses or skirts, I should just forget them.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Your closed shoe strategy makes perfect sense to me, Manidipa! (I have the same strategy. I really don't like to wear open shoes and have lived in tropical countries for most of my life).

If you can wear a supportive ballet flat - that's my suggestion. More versatile than a loafer and more covered than a sandal. Have you tried Clarks and Born?

Amy

(website)

Veteran

Both are pretty shoes, but as much as I like suede, it doesn't hold up as well as smooth leather. Would that be a concern for you?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I vote with Angie - look for a new red ballet flat with some support. It will look better with skirts than the loafers will.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Angie, yes, I hope to check out Clarks week after next. (My hometown doesn't have a store, but my 'work HQ' does.) They are relatively new to India, and I've never actually tried one before.

Born, sadly, does not exist in retail in my part of the world, any more than Bandolino does! It's only if amazon's India wing or ebay or this site (jabong) end up with a piece somehow...

Much as I love loafers (miss my recently dead pair!), a more versatile shoe seems to be the need of hour, if I can only get one other pair for a while. Especially as there seems to be a quite a bit of tropical travel on the horizon, from backpacker messy to luxury holiday level!

Amy, excellent point. I *love* the look and feel of suede, but yes, maintenance is a pain. Thanks for pointing out that I've gone and chosen high-maintenance fabrications in both these shoes, and really must be more practical! I'm not a great fan of patent either, which I find even more high maintenance than suede (scuffs!), but that's what the sandal is. Matte leather certainly is a whole heap more forgiving.

Suz, fingers crossed! Ballet flats seem to have disappeared from stores here! So frustrating, because I hesitate to buy those online even in brands I know well, because very often the curved edge of the toebox *digs* into my wide feet. Sandals and loafers are a little more forgiving. I sure *hope* 'HQ town' has more options than 'home town', because I'm going slightly batty now. Seriously considered the only two ballet flats I found --- navy and yellow ochre, which are NOT the most versatile combination of neutrals for me the rest of my wardrobe :-/

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Okay! Report back on the Clarks!

You could order from Amazon....

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Me Too makes great supportive ballet flats.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Angie, Amazon's international shipping charges become prohibitive in India; that's why I prefer to order from a local site if possible. It takes very real desperation to order off Amazon. But if I strike lucky at Clarks, that really would be the best --- I can try them on in person and not wait for delivery.

I love this one, for example: http://www.jabong.com/Clarks-S.....47919.html Although it would mean saving for a couple of months to afford it and I absolutely MUST try it in person with that heel, it's pretty much what you'd get if a closed shoe and a sandal had a baby, so that's two birds with one...er...sole?!

Sarah A

Veteran

FWIW, i have wide feet as well. i find the born ballet flats impossible because of the nice arch support positioned entirely wrong for me under the flat part of my foot. my arch doesnt start until well over from its placement but i do kind of have some big flat boats of feet!

christieanne

Veteran

I think you may be happier with Clarks than the Bandolinos in the long run. They are bound to have a comfortable shoe for you. Bandolinos fit my narrow arch and heels perfectly - even sizing up, for a wider foot might be hard fit (unless you can try and return if shipping is not too much).
I love the new metallic sandal - I have a feeling you will LIVE in that so please take with you from home to home

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Good luck with the Clarks Manidipa - I have found Clarks to be well made and very comfortable.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Thanks for weighing in, ladies! Saying a slightly woebegone sayonara to the Bandolinos :-p (though, Christieanne, this is one place where shipping's affordable because the site is local *and*, wonder of wonders, they even accept returns with no-questions-asked refunds --- finally!)

These Naturalizers I actually went and tried in person a couple of months back; and now they've disappeared except from the online store, so I guess this is the end of the line for this model. But it does seem I need to get a more versatile shoe before I think of sandals, especially now that I have the metallic slides --- which, hurray!, are flat and packable.

Fingers crossed Clarks comes through, before I wear through by red ballet flats and the green&brown sandals. For India, comfortable brands like Clarks, Naturalizer, Timberland, Hush Puppies etc are higher end shoes, unless you're talking designer brands --- and paying *that* much for comfort is still such a new idea that stores are few and stocks small. Finding that shoe sometimes feels like a good old-fashioned English hunt in the countryside... and the countryside is proving very hard on my shoes indeed! (Attrition rate so far: 9 pairs of casualties for me in 2 years, and 3 'interestingly distressed' at this point.)